


the particular annoyance of devil's snare

by mirkandmidnight



Series: author's favorites [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Home Alone (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-23
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-09-01 19:52:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8635945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirkandmidnight/pseuds/mirkandmidnight
Summary: The second time Kevin McCallister gets left behind to face dangerous intruders, he's got a little more of an advantage.





	

No one tells Harry, Ron, and Hermione exactly what went on at Hogwarts during the time they were hunting horcruxes. It’s just too weird. Even the teachers never bring It up, as if by ignoring It they can pretend It never happened.

But every time McCallister passes them in the halls, there’s funny little smirk on his face.

Phoebe knows, of course. Phoebe was there.

In the spring of 1998, Hogwarts was evacuated due to the threat of a Death Eater attack. Only two students missed it.

That morning, Phoebe woke up with her face plastered to a book. She sat up and looked around, not even surprised to find herself in the library. It was the second morning running that she’d woken up like this.

She checked her watch and let out a few choice words. 10:30! She’d slept through her first class, at the very least.

Phoebe gathered her things and bolted out of the library, her robes flapping behind her. By the time she got halfway to the Potions classroom, she knew something was wrong. The halls were completely empty. It was as if the whole castle was abandoned. Like everyone just vanished in the middle of the night.

Oh, this wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all. 

She decided to go to the Great Hall, trying to tamp down the rising panic. If anything was really going on, that’s where everybody would be. Surely they wouldn’t have just gone and left her in the middle of the night, would they?

As she made her way to the Great Hall, more signs appeared that indicated a quick flight from the castle. An abandoned slipper lay on one of the moving staircases, and someone had spilled a sticky liquid outside the History of Magic classroom.

The Great Hall appeared as abandoned as the rest of the castle, at first glance. Then she saw a slight figure, dressed in the same Ravenclaw robes as herself, sitting near the end of the tables, eating kippers with a blithe expression on his face. After a moment, he looked up and saw her. His sandy eyebrows rose, and his fork stopped in midair.

“Prewett,” he said.

“McCallister,” Phoebe sighed, and went over to sit next to him on the bench. “Did you oversleep too?”

“Something like that.” He took another bite of kippers. “Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me.”

“Where’d you get the food?

He shrugged. “Stole it.” Which was just typical, really, McCallister was one of the rare Ravenclaws who didn’t give a rat’s arse about grades. He went to class, but spent more time wandering the castle, finding secret passages and getting into all manner of trouble. The Weasley twins had loved him, before they flew the coop.

“You want some?” he asked, mouth full.

She rolled her eyes. “No, thanks. What’s going on?”

He shrugged again.

Wonderful.

McCallister chewed, then swallowed. “But I have a pretty good idea of how we can find out.”

Half an hour later, Phoebe found herself standing in front of an empty stretch of wall on the third floor while he muttered under his breath, something about needing to know what was going on. Maybe it was some kind of Muggle tradition. Her family were purebloods, so she supposed it was possible.

All the same, it was incredibly annoying.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Just then, a door appeared in the wall in front of them. McCallister let out a pleased hum and opened it, ushering her in. “Room of Requirement, Prewett. You’re smart, aren’t you supposed to know this stuff?”

Phoebe scowled. “I’m not going in there by myself. You first.”

He sighed, but stepped in ahead of her. “Do you really trust me that little?”

She followed him through the doorway, glancing around for any traps or people ready to jump out at her. “I’d be a fool to. You’re a menace, McCallister.” After a moment, she added, “Where are we?”

He shoved his hands into his pockets, looking positively gleeful. “This is the Room of Requirement. I’ve been trying to get in here for ages. Potter used to use it for DA meetings.” He turned away from her to survey the room, hands on his hips.

It was a small room, with just a hand mirror lying on a wooden table. Phoebe picked up the mirror, a little surprised at the weight.

“What do you think we do with it?” he asked, moving to stand behind her. His breath tickled the back of her neck, and she scowled.

“Maybe we ask it?” She looked into the mirror. “What’s going on outside the castle?”

The moment she finished the question, the image in the mirror shifted to the main entrance. Across the bridge was a group of people in silver masks and dark robes. Death Eaters.

“I don’t see L-You Know Who,” Phoebe corrected herself. “What do you suppose they’re here for?”

He peered over her shoulder. “They must be looking for someone. Or something,” he added.

“So that’s why everyone’s gone.” Phoebe paused. “They shouldn’t get past the defensive magic for quite some time. We could try and get out.”

“Or,” McCallister countered, “we stay here and defend the castle.”

She turned and stared at him.

“Don’t look at me like that. Whatever it is the Death Eaters came here for, I’m pretty sure we don’t want them to get it. The only way to make sure they don’t is by staying here.” He looked back at her, gaze steady. “Come on, Prewett. Please?”

Ugh. Americans. Why did they have to be so completely starkers?

Phoebe sniffed. “Fine. But what do you propose we do? We’re fourth years. I mean, I know some advanced hexes, but that’s not exactly going to keep them busy for long.”

McCallister grinned. “I have a plan,” he said.

Two hours later, they crouched behind the lectern in the Great Hall and listened to the Death Eaters curse as they tried to get up the stairs. “What did you do?” Phoebe whispered.

“Butter,” he replied. “Get ready to run.”

And indeed, barely half a minute later, a quartet of Death Eaters burst through the door. Where the other three were, she didn’t know, but McCallister hauled her to her feet and started running, pulling her along with.

The Death Eaters followed, hurling spells. Phoebe somehow managed to keep pace with him as they headed for the moving staircases. As they passed one of the suits of armor, he snatched a bulging sack out of its arms. 

They got to the stairs and sprinted up them, the Death Eaters hot on their heels. At the top, McCallister turned and emptied the sack. Hundreds of marbles spilled out and down the stairs. Two of the Death Eaters go down, and one doesn’t get up.

“Relashio!” Phoebe cried and ropes encircled the two men. She made a grab for McCallister’s sleeve at the same time as one of the Death Eaters, and for a moment they were caught tugging him between them.

But Phoebe was stronger, due to her time on the Quidditch pitch, and she managed to yank him free. They ran to the railing, and on the count of three, leapt to the neighboring staircase as it passed underneath them. 

“What now?” she asked, breathing hard.

“Well, I’m hoping they keep following us,” he panted, and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”

They continued up the stairs to the third floor, both ignoring the remaining two behind them. “Where are we going?” she shouted.

“So you know that one room in the corridor that no one goes into?”

“The forbidden one? THe one that’s closed to anyone who doesn’t want to die a painful death?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, that one.”

They skidded to halt in front of said door and he flung it open. They dashed inside, McCallister pausing to blast open a trapdoor in the floor. How he’d known it would be there, Phoebe didn’t want to know She had a sneaking suspicion that if she made it through today, she’d be serving more than her fair share detentions already.

A moment later, the two Death Eaters burst in to find Kevin standing to one side of the trapdoor. “Now!” he shouted, and Phoebe ran out from behind the door to shove the two through the hole in the floor.

“Expelliarmus!” The two wands flew out of their hands and clattered onto the floor. She leaned in, and to her surprise, the Death Eaters appeared to be tangled in some kind of plant. SHe took a closer look, then glanced at McCallister. “Did you know there was Devil’s Snare down there?”

He looked a little miffed. “I’m offended you would even ask, Prewett.”

***

So no, no one exactly tells Harry, Ron, and Hermione what happened, although the rest of the school certainly knows. These days, Phoebe spends a lot more time with McCallister. He’s a decent fellow. When he’s not turning her books into birds, that is.

**Author's Note:**

> I would just like to issue a formal apology.


End file.
